The Paradox of Light and Shadow
by shadowoftime
Summary: NaruHina. What if Naruto wasn't an idiot? A falling leaf takes many twists and turns, but not even the strongest wind can return it to the tree.
1. The Scroll of Sealing

**I don't own Naruto.**

What if Naruto was less of an idiot? I decided to write this fanfic to entertain that idea, as well as implement many, many other ideas I have, while still including a lot of Naruto and Hinata. He won't be as smart as Shikamaru, just a little above average. Also, I like to write in detail about jutsu and chakra sometimes, simply because I have a reasonable explanation for them. Anyway, I hope you enjoy the story.

Date: January 1, 2008

Reviews: 0

* * *

The Scroll of Sealing

The Scroll of Sealing. In it are contained many powerful jutsu that are considered forbidden, usually because they are dangerous or just incredibly difficult. This was his target. Now all he needed was a way to obtain it, as the penalty for stealing it would be severe. As he left the school building, he noticed the perfect scapegoat. The genin exam would be tomorrow. This would be his best chance.

* * *

"Uzumaki Naruto" a voice called. The blond entered the testing room to find Iruka and Mizuki seated, prepared to administer the test. "Okay, Naruto." Iruka began, "All you have to do to pass is make a decent clone. Naruto grinned. _'That's all?'_ Putting his hands together to form a seal, he began to call up chakra. "Bunshin no jutsu!" A cloud of smoke filled the room.

As it cleared, it revealed two Narutos. However, one of them was a mess, lying on the ground in an unconscious heap. "You fail." Iruka stated, secretly disappointed in his student. He had grown to tolerate Naruto over the past few years, and almost saw him as an annoying little brother. But he just couldn't pass him with such a poor clone. He wouldn't last in the shinobi world.

Mizuki, however, was pleased at the result. It turned out just as one of the other senseis had told him it would. "Iruka, how about we let him pass. He did make a clone, after all." He suggested, knowing Iruka wouldn't allow it. As expected, Iruka refused, and Naruto left the room, a miserable look on his face.

* * *

Naruto found himself running through the streets of Konoha, carrying a large scroll. Heading into the forest, he found a secluded clearing. He quickly landed, and opened the large scroll in front of him. Pulling out several smaller scrolls of his own he began to immediately copy down as many jutsu as he could. So far his plan had gone perfectly.

_Flashback_

_As he left the school building, he saw the perfect scapegoat. __A silver-haired chunnin sensei by the name of Mizuki, who he knew hated him more than even most of the villagers.__ He walked behind the corner of a building, and a wisp of smoke could be s__e__en before quickly disappearing._

_From around the corner emerged __Naruto in the form of __another chunnin sensei, one that Naruto knew also hated him. Making sure his henge was sufficient, Naruto approached Mizuki as he had seen the chunnin do many times befo__re. "Hey Mizuki, you know the Kyuubi__brat? Well I had an idea. The brat's sure to fail the test tomorrow, and when he does, he'll be so __upset,__ he'll probably do anything to become a ninja. I was going to do something like trick him into stealing the Scroll of Sealing, then taking it for myself while he gets blamed."_

_"Is that all you could think of?" Mizuki answered, trying to hide __his blatant avarice__. "__We've been too soft on him these past years. Let's bide our time, and plan out something more devastating__" He paused as a few stragglers left the school building. When they were out of earshot, he continued. "We'll discuss this more this weekend. Just remember to show up this time."__ With that, __Mizuki__ said his goodbyes and left__ to plan for tomorrow's events. 'Sorry for stealing your idea, old friend, but that scroll will be mine.'_

_Naruto dropped the henge, and headed back to his apartment, hoping Mizuki-teme took the bait. He had some preparations to make._

_End Flashback_

Naruto grinned as he finished copying down the details of all the jutsu he liked, leaving out the ones that required him to give up his own life. Now it was time for the second part of his plan: Establishing his innocence. It shouldn't be too difficult after all the years of feigning incompetence, and pretending to be the class clown. In reality, he was as smart as any other student his age, and a little—or rather—much more clever than most. All he had to do now was wait for his scapegoat and his witness to arrive.

* * *

It wasn't too long before Iruka showed up in the clearing, as Naruto knew he would. Iruka always seemed to be the one to find him first when he pulled one of his pranks. How the man did it he had no idea, but at the moment it would serve him well. "Iruka-sensei! I learned one of the jutsu from the scroll. Does that mean I can be a genin now?" he feigned.

"What gave you that idea?" Iruka responded. _'Wow, he must have been out here learning…'_

_"Mizuki-sensei said so. If I learn a jutsu from this scroll, then I could still pass." Of course he had __tricked __Mizuki __in__to tell__ing__ him this, but it was for the __most part true._

"Mizuki said that?" Iruka asked, confused.

"That's right!" came a voice from a nearby tree. There stood Mizuki, holding a giant shuriken, with a second one on his back. "Give me the scroll Naruto."

"Naruto, don't listen to him. He's trying to steal it for himself." Iruka protested.

"He's lying, Naruto." Mizuki interrupted. "He hates you just like everyone else. And do you know why that is? The fourth sealed Kyuubi inside a newborn child, inside you! You, are the Kyuubi no Kitsune! Now die!" With that, he hurled the giant shuriken straight towards Naruto. Iruka was about to intercept it, but stopped as a familiar figure landed on the tree behind Mizuki.

Mizuki laughed in triumph as he saw the shuriken hit its target, but stopped when he noticed it pass through and keep going. _'Bunshin?!'_ Before he could react, he felt himself take a heavy blow to the back of the head, knocking him to the ground unconscious.

"N-naruto…" Iruka stuttered in surprise. Naruto just rubbed the back of his head sheepishly.

* * *

"Not only did you create a successful bunshin, you also defeated a chunnin and saved the Scroll of Sealing. Close your eyes, I've got a surprise for you." Naruto closed his eyes and felt a headband being tied around his forehead. "Congratulations. You're now a full-fledged ninja."

"Alright!" Naruto screamed in joy.

"Also, how about I treat you to ramen to celebrate." Iruka added, causing Naruto to stop cheering. "R-really?" he asked, his voice filled with excitement. He had already known Iruka was a good person, but this was the first time anyone other than the Sandaime had ever shown him any real kindness. He almost felt bad for involving Iruka in some of his past pranks, and for tonight's 'prank' as well. To be honest, the various 'pranks' he always pulled usually achieved some hidden goal of his, and were rarely ever used for attention or revenge. But when they were, it sure was sweet revenge! Anyway, he could ignore the scrolls he had for now. Tonight would be spent celebrating becoming a genin with his now-favorite sensei, as well as preparing for tomorrow.

* * *

"I will now announce the teams! They have been arranged to balance your strengths and weaknesses." Iruka told the class of genin before him. When he saw everyone looking at him expectantly, he continued. "Team 7 will be Uchiha Sasuke, Haruno Sakura, and Yamanaka Ino." There were some loud outbursts, but Sasuke didn't notice. His mind had collapsed in on itself, a safe haven from the hell that was his life. _Why? Why did you spare me? I swear, for what you did to our clan, and how much misery you've brought forth…I _will_ kill you!_

"Team 8 will consist of Inuzuka Kiba, Akimichi Chouji, and Aburame Shino." The three just glanced at each other, appearently having no problems with the arrangements: Chouji munching on a bag of chips, Kiba mumbling something to Akamaru, and Shino…well…sitting there. Raising his voice to speak over the argument between Sakura and Ino, Iruka continued with his announcement. "And the final team, team 10, will be Hyuuga Hinata, Uzumaki Naruto, and Nara Shikamaru! Your Jounin senseis will be here shortly.

Naruto looked around and spotted his teammates. Shikamaru was sleeping, as usual. He probably didn't even hear the team announcements. On the other side of the room, in the back corner, he could see the shy girl by the name of Hinata. For some reason she had hid her face as soon as he looked in her direction. He ignored it, used to the fact that she was just weird like that.

_'Naruto-kun…I'm on the same team as Naruto-kun!'_ Hinata felt like this was a dream come true. A moment later her joy was washed away by a torrent of doubt. 'What…what if I'm not strong enough? What will he think when he sees how weak I am?'

Her thoughts were cut short as the door opened. There stood a man with black pointy hair, a matching beard, and a black bracelet on each wrist. He wore standard Jounin attire, and a cigarette hung loosely from the corner of his mouth. "Team 10? Come with me." He said as if he had been forced into doing some repetitive chore, then turning to leave without waiting to see who it was who followed.

Shikamaru had just woken up, and seemed to somehow know that he was in team 10, or just felt like leaving; Hinata was quickly hurrying to catch up to their sensei. Naruto got up and walked out after her, if only to get away from Ino and Sakura's increasingly loud argument. He was almost sure that they had both forgotten what they were arguing about and were just trying to scream louder than the other.

As he left through the classroom door, a small 'Eep!' caught his attention. There stood the shy white-eyed girl with a red tint to her face. Her eyes were glued to her slender fingers, which she was repeatedly pressing together in what was appearently a nervous habit. "A-ano…N-naruto-kun…"

"C'mon Hinata, we've gotta catch up!" Naruto said, not hearing her. He gently grabbed her wrist and ran after their sensei, dragging the dazed girl behind him.

* * *

The three genin and their sensei now sat in a patch of sun on the forest floor. Hinata was still a little dazed, holding her wrist as though it had suddenly become precious and fragile. Shikamaru found a comfortable spot in the shade of a tree, lying down as though he had nothing to do that day. Naruto was surprised to find himself more energetic than usual, obviously from the excitement of finally becoming a ninja ready to take on missions. 

"Well, let's go ahead and begin. My name's Asuma, your Jounin sensei. Now I want you to all introduce yourselves. You're going to need to work as a team if you're to pass my test. But we'll get to that in a little bit. Why don't you go first." He motioned to Naruto.

"I'm Uzumaki Naruto! I like ramen and training, and dislike stuck-up Uchihas, and I'm gonna be Hokage someday!" Since Shikamaru wasn't really paying attention, it was now Hinata's turn.

"M-my name is Hyuuga Hinata. I like…I-I l-l-like…" _'Naruto-_kun' Her face was suddenly flushed bright crimson, and her stutters began to become incoherent. It was then that Naruto placed his hand on her forehead to check for a fever. "Ne, you okay, Hinata?" The stuttering stopped as she fainted, earning worried looks from Naruto and Asuma. 'That's not good. She's not gonna be able to fight if she's like this all the time…' Asuma thought to himself. "She'll wake up in a little bit, Naruto, just let her rest. Okay, sleepy, Go ahead and introduce yourself."

"Nara Shikamaru. My family is a clan of shadow users." They waited for him to continue his introduction, but it seemed that was all he would bother to say.

"Well then, that should be all for today. Meet back here tomorrow at noon for the test." With that he disappeared in a swirl of leaves. As Shikamaru began walking away, Naruto pulled a few scrolls out of his kunai pouch and spread them open on the ground.

* * *

_Warm… _Hinata awoke to a comfortable warm feeling. Draped over her like a blanket was a familiar orange jacket. Closing her eyes again, she began to drift back into a blissful sleep. A few seconds passed before her mind regained full consciousness, causing her eyes to shoot open and stare at the jacket.

_W-Why is Naruto-kun's J-Jacket…_ Turning her attention to her immediate surroundings, she found herself now leaning against a tree at the edge of the small clearing she was in earlier. _That's right…I fainted…but I was over there… _Her face was becoming increasingly red in realization, when a loud yell startled her out of her thoughts. "Kuso! Why'd they make this jutsu so damn hard?!"

At the other end of the clearing was an irate blond, shouting something about Jounin and their over-complicated techniques. From the two mangled orange heaps on the ground near him, he seemed to be trying—and failing—to perform bunshin no jutsu. Hinata picked up the boy's jacket and began slowly approaching him, desperately resisting the urge to hide behind a tree and watch.

"N-Naruto-kun?"

Hinata's eyes locked onto Naruto's, and there was a comfortable silence. She just stared into his cerulean eyes for what seemed to be an eternity to her, her mind no longer thinking and her heart beating loudly.

In reality, only a second had passed before Naruto broke the silence he hadn't known was there. "Hinata, are you all right? You seem, well, a little different than normal. It doesn't seem to be a cold, so I'm a little worried…"

"I-I'm f-fine." She managed to stutter out once she realized he had spoken, quickly redirecting her gaze to the ground.

"Well, you should probably rest here for a bit." Naruto suggested, "I've got some training to do; you're welcome to watch if you'd like."

"A-Ano, Naruto-kun?"

"Yeah?"

A reddish color made its way across her face. "W-Would you m-mind i-if…I…umm…Can I t-train with you?" She hurriedly blurted out the last part, and was now watching her fingers press together nervously.

"Uhh..yeah…sure, I guess." Actually, he didn't really know anything about the shy Hyuuga; what she was capable of, or whether she even wanted to be a ninja. She didn't really seem like the type, and he didn't know much about the Hyuuga clan. They could have very well forced her into this life!

Naruto just then realized he had spaced out for a moment when he noticed Hinata staring at him. Before she turned around to hide her bright red face, he saw her empty eyes, filled with a strange mix of emotions: joy, relief, fear, worry, and something else he was sure he had never seen before.

"Uhh…" Naruto looked around nervously, only now dispelling the 'clones' he had created earlier. "Hey Hinata, " he said, mostly trying to keep his mind from going off on another tangent, "Think you can make any sense of this?"

Laying his jacket on the ground and taking the scroll the blond offered her, she let out a small gasp upon seeing the jutsu. "N-Naruto-kun, t-this i-is…" She trailed off, immersing herself in reading the instructions for kage bunshin no jutsu. There were a lot of things she didn't understand, but some of it had been taught in the academy in basic chakra theory, which judging by Naruto's failed clones, was the only part he could understand as well.

At the most basic level, a shadow clone was a solid shell of chakra with separate chakra circulating within in to sustain its form. When the shell was hit, it would destabilize the internal flow of chakra, causing the shell to falter and disappear, while the internal chakra returns to the owner in the form memories, thoughts, and feelings. The hand sign was simple, along with calling up chakra and molding it into the outer shell. Getting chakra to circulate inside it independently was what made this technique difficult.

_I hope she doesn't ask where I got this scroll. It's not exactly the kind of thing you can just find at the library… _

* * *

Several hours passed as they worked on the jutsu, stopping to let Hinata rest every so often. It took a lot of chakra to learn, and even though she insisted she could continue, Naruto kept making her take breaks whenever she started running low on chakra. They didn't speak much other than about kage bunshin, but that was enough to avoid silence.

It was about six by the time they could each produce a successful kage bunshin. They decided to part ways there, much to Hinata's displeasure. Naruto headed off to his favorite ramen stand, by the name of Ichiraku Ramen. It was one of the few places in town he was allowed to eat. Hinata was supposedly heading home but had changed her mind once Naruto left.

While she could only manage one shadow clone, Naruto had made up to three several times without showing any sign of fatigue. Hinata now stood in the same clearing, breathing heavily from exhaustion as she formed her hands into the ram seal. She had to get stronger, for him.

* * *

_End of chapter_

Please review! It's always nice to see what others think of the story. Also, you may have noticed the review counter at the beginning of the chapter (currently at 0). I've decided to keep track of the number of reviews I have at the release of each chapter. It should increase exponentially as the story lengthens. Chapter length should increase as well. Anyway, leave a review on how you liked it so far. I know the end isn't as good or as detailed as the rest, but meh, I got lazy. Anyway, next chapter will be up when I finish it. See ya next time!


	2. The Kyuubi no Kitsune

**I don't own Naruto.**

Thank you those that reviewed! I hope you all like this chapter as well.

Date: January 6, 2008

Reviews: 6

* * *

The Kyuubi no Kitsune

A low growl emanated from somewhere within the dank network of gloomy tunnels. Naruto traversed the familiar path to the source of the noise, now accustomed to the ankle deep water that wasn't wet, and the warm breeze whose warmth seemed to vanish before it came.

It had been over a year now since he had met Kyuubi. At first he believed the depressing surroundings to be a dream, not having remembered waking up since he last went to sleep. Having stumbled upon the large room containing Kyuubi's cage, the fox introduced himself in as showy a fashion as possible, yet still scaring the boy rather than impressing him. It wasn't until Naruto had left that he realized the fox had somehow managed to subtly sidestep answering every question he had asked. All he had learned was that Yondaime had sealed the Kyuubi inside him, who was now bored from sitting in a cage for eleven years, and wanted to take him on as a student.

He had dabbled with trying to enter this place on his own a few times before, the place he now recognized as his mindscape, a psychological manifestation of his own subconscious. Every one of his attempts had resulted in complete failure, and so Kyuubi remained his only means of entrance here, dragging him in on seemingly random nights.

Naruto turned the corner into a large, dark room. _D__amn fox, what does he want _this _time?! _Kyuubi's 'lessons' so far had been rather unhelpful. He refused to teach Naruto any jutsu, or train him in any way. Most of the visits entailed him listening to the demon as he spoke of meaningless topics, or stories taken straight from the vast wealth of Kyuubi's knowledge.

**"Welcome, kit."** A large maniacal face greeted the boy from behind the tall bars. **"It's about time I teach you about elemental chakra and ****its manipulation."** Naruto groaned. Kyuubi always began with a statement like that. He now knew better than to get his hopes up. As he expected, the fox continued.

**"You are, however, far from being able to put it to use, so I won't go into any of the details."**

"Are you ever going to teach me anything useful?! Like maybe some killer jutsus or something!"

_**If only you knew, kit.**_The fox chuckled to himself. **"I've already taught you many useful things, for instance, what made the shodaime hokage so unique?"**

"He was some sort of super gardener! How does that help me with anything?!"

**"He was well-known for possessing life chakra, which no other human has ever had. By using it in combination with his water and earth chakra affiliations, he was able to develop mokuton ninjutsu. Which takes us to today's lesson, which will focus on the five basic elements, as well as what can be done with them."**

Yes, this would definitely be another long, boring night for Uzumaki Naruto.

* * *

"Sasuke-kun!" yelled a pink-haired kunoichi as the young Uchiha arrived for their sensei's test. As if caused by her high pitched shriek, Sasuke disappeared in a puff of smoke, leaving a log where he had just been standing. The two girls present looked around frantically, exchanged a few insults, then darted off in different directions, each attempting to find the boy before the other could. Neither noticed as the log Sasuke had left behind turned into a snake, and found a safe quiet spot to wait for their sensei.

* * *

"So, what are we looking for?" The voice made Sakura jump as she was searching behind a bush for Sasuke. Turning to see who had spoken, next to her was her sensei, a tall man whose face was covered by a mask. He had odd-looking grey hair, and wore his hitai-ate over his left eye. As he waited for her to recover from the shock, he was looking behind various bushes and trees, and even under a few small rocks.

"I was…that is Ino and I…were looking for Sasuke-kun." She finally answered, looking downcast.

"Sasuke…" he paused, having adopted an admonishing tone, "is at the meeting place, where he should be. You and Ino are the ones whom I had to find. I'd appreciate it if you two would show up on time from now on, that is, if you three even manage to pass my test."

* * *

"Now," Kakashi began, "This test will determine whether you become genin, or are sent back to the academy. Only three out of the nine new teams will be allowed to become genin. Your objective is to take these bells from me. The one of you who doesn't get one will not become a genin. The time begins now."

The trio immediately scattered and found decent hiding places. _Hmm…_ thought Kakashi, _at least they know to h – ……..—gotcha! _Behind a nearby tree, Ino's body went limp as she possessed Kakashi's body.

Moments later she narrowly dodged a kunai that flew towards her head. Raising her arm on pure instinct, she blocked the kick Sasuke threw towards her. Twisting in midair, Sasuke landed his second kick, sending Kakashi's body flying backwards into a tree. Seeing a rain of kunai heading straight for her, Ino quickly released her jutsu. The kunai impacted the tree where Kakashi had been, their sensei nowhere to be seen. An aggravated Sasuke scanned the area, looking for any sign of movement. Hearing leaves rustle behind him, he turned and threw a kunai in the direction of the sound, nearly missing Sakura as she stumbled out of the bushes.

* * *

At this moment, Sasuke felt a pair of hands grip his ankles, and soon found himself up to his neck in dirt. "Well then," Kakashi began, eyeing the group, "it appears that none of you are in a position to continue, and it's already noon. As if to prove his statement, an alarm clock rang somewhere nearby.

* * *

It wasn't long before they were sitting next to the three stumps that were the only distinguishing feature of that training ground. Sasuke was unwillingly tied to the middle stump while the two girls were kneeling next to him, each attempting to feed him their lunch.

"Sasuke-kun, you need to eat to keep your strength up!" The pink-haired girl shoved some food into his mouth. Before he could spit it out, the blonde girl did the same. "He said we could have another hour to get the bells, so please eat something."

A seething Kakashi flew out from the bushes. "You dare defy my orders?! Then you all…pass." He said the last word with a smile, which did little to calm the shaken, and now very confused, genin before him. "Anyone who breaks the rules is scum, but those who abandon their comrades are worse than scum. Besides, you three could end up making a good team, you have a lot in common." At this, the trio just stared at him and blinked a few times, not understanding.

"For instance, you all seem to think Uchiha Sasuke is the greatest thing in the world."

* * *

Naruto, Hinata, and Shikamaru found themselves staring at three life-sized statues of themselves. Nearby, Asuma was leaning up against a tree, widdling away at a small rock using his knuckle blades. "All you have to do to pass my test," Asuma said lazily, not taking his attention away from whatever he was carving, "is to get your statue over to that circle." He indicated a circle drawn in the dirt about ten meters away from the statues. "You have one hour. Go ahead and start."

Naruto and Hinata looked at each other. It seemed too easy. Meanwhile Shikamaru had been positioning himself with his statue between him and Asuma.

Asuma jumped up onto a tree branch, narrowly avoiding the shadow that crept towards him. "Sorry, Nara, but you'll have to do it without my help." Deciding that trying to force Asuma to help was too troublesome, Shikamaru joined the other two who were now trying to lift the Naruto statue.

"Oh, I forgot to mention," Asuma interrupted, "Each statue has a seal on it that adds its weight to everything else nearby that shares that seal." Examining it more carefully, they noticed a strange symbol on the statue's headband instead of the usual leaf emblem.

"That means they're each three times as heavy…" Shikamaru commented, more to himself than the others.

"Don't worry, I've got this covered!" Naruto answered as he made a hand sign. Soon there were four Narutos, including the original. Shikamaru raised an eyebrow at the shadow clones, but just shrugged and helped them lift the statue. _More Narutos…troublesome…_

The six of them were barely able to lift the overly heavy statue, but as they tried to move with it, one of the clones tripped over another one, and the statue fell to the ground, resulting in two puffs of smoke from the unfortunate kage bunshin.

"Kuso! Those stupid seals are making this too difficult! I'll show them to mess with me!" Naruto exclaimed in a fit of rage. _If the seal only adds the weight of whatever it's on, then we just need it to be on something lighter…_

Without warning, the last remaining clone formed a hand seal and transformed into a sledgehammer. Naruto caught it and proceeded to bash his statue in the face until its head broke off at the neck.

Shikamaru just sighed and mumbled something, while Hinata looked on with wide eyes at the bizarre spectacle before her. Naruto had moved onto Shikamaru's statue next, skipping hers, and was now smashing apart both his arms. At one point the hammer had impacted hard enough for it to vanish with a 'poof', but Naruto was quick to summon up another.

"Hinata, help me carry these." Shikamaru said, motioning towards the now incomplete statues. After Naruto caught his breath, he pitched in at well. The statues were now significantly lighter, even Hinata's, which he hadn't damaged at all (much to her delight).

As they carried the last pieces of statue to the circle, Shikamaru turned to Naruto with an annoyed expression. "Naruto, why did you knock_ both_ of my arms off?"

"I wanted you to be symmetrical?" he offered with a shrug, earning a giggle from Hinata.

"You little brats! Those took me two hours to make!" Asuma yelled from his tree branch. Appearently he had just looked up from his sculpting to see how they were doing. He then reappeared in front of them in a swirl of leaves. "Well, congratulations, I guess. At least you passed the test." He scratched the back of his head. The three noticed the finished hand-sized sculpture he held, some sort of karate monkey, holding a large staff. "How about I take you three out for barbeque to celebrate?"

"Yeah!" Naruto cheered loudly. Hinata was blushing slightly as she poked her fingers together, while Shikamaru looked unenthused.

* * *

Their meal had been rather quiet. Shikamaru never really talked too much, Naruto had his mouth constantly stuffed full of food, and Hinata was her usual shy self. Naruto was now in his small apartment, inspecting a rectangular stone he had taken earlier that day. It was the headband from his statue. The sledgehammer he left behind while they went to eat had reverted to a shadow clone, and brought the seal-ridden slate to Naruto's room before dismissing itself, just as Naruto had planned when Asuma first mentioned the seal.

He had already tried carving the seal into his desk, exactly as it appeared on the stone, but the stone had not gotten any heavier, meaning the seal wasn't made just by carving it into something. **"I see you've found yourself a weight seal there, kit." **Kyuubi interrupted, knowing full well where he had gotten it.

**"You know, there is usually more than one way for seals to be made. Usually this seal is created by drawing it on chakra-sensitive paper with ink, then adding chakra to transfer it to the object. However, it seems this one was carved directly into the stone with wind chakra, making it much more permanent."**

"Decided to be helpful for once, you lazy fox?" Naruto said inwardly.

**"Actually I just find seals fascinating. Not even I know everything there is to be known about them. This weight seal is only a low-level one however, it shouldn't take you long to learn it."** Kyuubi chuckled.

"Fine, whatever. Anything else you feel like teaching me while you're in a good mood?"

**"We could review the origins of summons and how they are tied to this world…"**

"No thanks." The blond quickly answered. That had probably been the longest and most boring thing Kyuubi had bothered to teach him, most of the information being completely impractical, even if it _was_ long forgotten by all of humanity.

Standing up, he headed for the door. It was almost sundown, but if he hurried, he could make it to the weapon shop before the closed. As he stepped out of the building, he used a henge to transform into a stereotypical genin. It was just easier if he wasn't him when he needed to buy something.

As he entered the shop, a little kid wearing a long blue scarf ran past him, appearently upset about something. _Probably just another kid trying to buy ninja weapons…_

He left the shop soon after with a large amount of chakra paper, a couple of blank scrolls, and a few other things that caught his eye. _Well there goes all my money…Asuma said we'd be getting missions tomorrow; they better pay well._

* * *

Naruto awoke to the unwelcome sound of his alarm clock, alerting him that he only had two hours before his first mission. Turning off the alarm, he grudgingly attempted to get out of bed, only to find his body resisting leaving the comfortable mattress. _Maybe I shouldn't have stayed up so late learning that seal. No wait…that's not it… _He then noticed the sweatbands he was wearing on his wrists, as well as his ankles. _That's right…I was testing it out… _On the inside of each sweatband, as well as his shirt, he had placed a weight seal to see how practical it could be. He had also placed one on the underside of the old wooden chair that sat in his kitchen.

With some effort, he managed to stand up. _I wonder what the range on this seal is…_

After following his usual morning routine, he grabbed one of the scrolls full of jutsu he had copied down, and started heading for the hokage tower. It was about two buildings down from his apartment that his clothes suddenly lightened. He almost jumped accidentally because of the sudden change. Making a mental note to be careful when returning to his apartment, he continued toward his destination.

A foreboding wind blew through the streets of Konoha, promising the blond genin a new enemy before the end of the day.

* * *

"Your first mission will be to retrieve Tora, the cat of the daimyo's wife. It's probably running around near training ground fifty-six. Good luck." He sent the three a reassuring smile before ushering them off to find the cat.

After a bit of searching, the team was able to find and capture it, mostly because of Hinata's byakugan and Shikamaru's shadow possession. They continued with easy D-rank missions for a while, Naruto and Shikamaru complaining the whole time. They had just returned the cat for the third time today, and were about to receive their final mission for the day. Suddenly, a chunnin appeared next to the hokage, and whispered something in his ear.

The hokage sighed. "It seems a mission has just come in. You three are to retrieve Tora the cat and return it to its owner."

"What?!" Naruto screamed, "We just caught that stupid cat! We handed it over only a few minutes ago!"

"Well, it seems to have escaped again. This will be your last mission for the day, so you won't have to deal with it again for a long time." _After all, there are several other genin teams…_

And so, the team found themselves searching for the missing feline once again. It was 'troublesome', but they had to find the 'poor thing', after which they would 'kick its ass'. Asuma didn't mind the cat too much, since he didn't have to help. Naruto, however, had better things to do than repeatedly chase an annoying cat through the forest.

* * *

"…I need a better place to practice these things…" Naruto said to himself as he looked around his cluttered apartment. There was paper lying everywhere, ink stains dotted the desk, and various open scrolls lay haphazardly throughout the room. _I need someplace quiet, preferably secluded, in case something goes wrong and I blow something up. Somewhere hidden, I don't want anyone finding it…oh! And it has to be awesome! I've always wanted a secret hideout! I'll be able to work on learning jutsu and seals there, and maybe even make my own! This'll be great! And I__ have__ the perfect idea for it…"_

"Hey, Kyuubi!" he yelled in his mind. "I need to learn a doton jutsu!"

**"Maybe tomorrow, kit.**** Even demons sleep, so try to keep it down until dawn."**

_Lazy fox…the sun hasn't even set yet! __Besides, he'll have 'conveniently forgotten' by tomorrow. __I guess I'll go find a good location…_ Grabbing a pen and a scroll, he ran off towards the village gate.

* * *

"Kage Bunshin no jutsu!" Naruto was now just outside the village gate, surrounded by thirty shadow clones. He suddenly felt much heavier, just like when he was within range of his apartment.

_Why…? Ah, the seals. They must have them too…Oh well, I can handle this much._

"Now…" he yelled, turning his attention to the small army before him, "You know what to do! Meet back here if you find a good place!" With that, all thirty-one of them scattered in different directions, surrounding the city of Konoha and searching throughout its vast forests.

* * *

It was already dark by the time they had all met back up at Konoha's gate. Once they had all arrived, those who had been unsuccessful in their search dismissed themselves, leaving only the original and three clones eager to show off what they had found.

"Okay, we'll start with…uhhh…you!" the real Naruto pointed to a clone at random. The small group found themselves being led to the east of Konoha, to the back of the Hokage Monument.

They stopped in a rocky clearing that was bordered by the monument's back wall, providing a vertical barrier on one side while the other side was empty forest, or so he thought. A groan suddenly came from behind a tree, as his shadow-wielding teammate stepped into view.

"Naruto, what are you doing here?" he asked in an exasperated voice.

"N-Nothing! Really! What are _you_ doing here?"

"Idiot. This is part of my clan's grounds." _He's obviously not as dumb as he acts. He's up to something…_

"What? They reach all the way back here?" the clones asked in unison, causing Shikamaru to shudder.

"Yes, now could you please leave, you're scaring the deer away. And undo anything you've already done. If my mom finds all the deer tied together in pairs by their antlers again, it'll ruin my whole day." Naruto snickered. He hadn't gotten to see the end result of his prank that time. "You even accidentally chipped some pieces off their antlers where the rope was tied."

_Yeah…accidentally…_"Hehe…sorry about that, Shika." Naruto answered, scratching the back of his head. "We're friends now, so I won't prank you anymore. Anyway, gotta go! See ya!" Naruto heard a 'whatever' followed by a yawn as he jumped away. That spot was out; onto the next one.

* * *

"It's kinda plain, isn't it?" The Narutos now stood in an area just southeast of Konoha's walls that can only be described as generic forest. There was grass, trees, and not much else.

"Heh, mine's much better than this." The third clone bragged. The real one stopped the remaining two clones just in time from killing each other. "So then, lead the way. If you're wrong, we'll be using this place."

The three (Clone #2 insisted on seeing the other's 'amazing' find) headed south some more, getting further from Konoha. They stopped in a sunny clearing, immediately hearing the waterfall that was at its edge. The waterfall seemed to flow from a plateau, and into a stream that ran past the clearing out into the forest. The clearing's grass was soft and green, creating an almost paradise feel to the serene area.

"Wow! This place is awesome!" Naruto shouted, scaring some birds from the surrounding trees. The other two clones dismissed themselves, and Naruto began to inspect the surroundings a bit more. This would be a great place. Now he just needed the right jutsu…

* * *

_End of chapter_

Please review, everyone! If you have any questions or concerns, feel free to ask. I'll hopefully get the next chapter written fast, since I already know where to start. Although I may also make it longer, so no promises. See ya next time!


	3. The Foxes' Den

**I don't own Naruto.**

Chapter three is here! I've been really busy recently, so the chapter releases may become much more inconsistent. Anyway, here's chapter three! Enjoy!

* * *

The Foxes' den

"How about this one?" The shadow clone offered Naruto an open scroll, indicating the jutsu it was open to.

"Yeah! That could…wait…Didn't you give me this scroll back earlier to look through a different one?"

"I thought I did, but I guess I had put slipped it into my pocket by mistake." The clone replied, rubbing the back of his head sheepishly. Naruto dispelled the clone and nearly screamed when the scroll in front of him disappeared.

"Ah! Where'd it…?!" Fumbling through the mess of scrolls beside him, he found what he was looking for. _Hmm…it seems kage bunshin no jutsu also clones whatever I have with me…_ A devilish grin spread across his face. _This could be _very_ useful…_

"Now where did that jutsu go…" he said aloud to himself, searching for the jutsu his clone had found. "Here it is. Wall of Earth. It says it's a A-rank, two part jutsu. The user has to use chakra to simultaneously pull earth into the shape of a wall, while compressing it to give it the hardness of rock…ranked high because of the difficulty of manipulating a solid substance, as opposed to the other elements."

"Eh, seems easy enough." Forming the hand signs, he began using his chakra to pull at the earth. Finding it surprisingly difficult, he pushed more chakra into the jutsu. He managed to get a two foot high wall before it 'broke' off at the bottom, resulting in a very solid clump of dirt. _Stupid wall! Well, I guess I don't need the whole jutsu…_

Again, he performed the hand signs, this time forgetting about making a wall. Instead, he focused on an imaginary circle on the ground, forcing the dirt inside the circle to the edge, effectively forming a hollow cylinder in the ground. "Alright! This is perfect!" He then noticed his hands were trembling. _It takes so much more chakra to compact the dirt below ground than above ground. _Reaching his hand into the cylinder, he found its walls to be completely smooth, like marble. It was dark at the bottom, but the hole seemed to be about ten to fifteen feet deep, and had a diameter of about 2 feet, easily large enough for a person to stand in. _I'm going to need more chakra, or this is gonna take forever…I probably shouldn't leave this hole here, I'm pretty sure someone uses this training ground_ Using the jutsu again, he tried to cause the cylinder to cave in on itself, but it didn't seem to react, and he had already used too much chakra making it to use much more. _Hehehe…this'll do. _He grinned mischievously as he made a very thin layer of earth over the hole. He soon headed back towards town, it was time to start work on his hideout.

* * *

It was about one in the afternoon, and Hinata found herself walking through the streets of Konoha. This was the first day they've had off since they started missions nearly a week ago. Her current destination was a stand by the name of Ichiraku Ramen. She had already eaten, but she wanted to find Naruto, and had already checked the training ground where they took the statue test. She was almost there when an orange blur passed over the street, from one rooftop to another.

_Naruto-kun!_ Jumping up to the rooftops, she began following him south, wondering where he was headed. It wasn't long before they left the walls of Konoha. Naruto came to a stop at the edge of a small clearing; Hinata stopping further back and hiding behind a tree.

_I…I want to go talk to him. But…I have no explanation for why I followed him. He'd probably be mad…but…I have to think of something! I'm tired of always watching from a distance. I want to spend time with Naruto-kun…but…what if he doesn't want me around…what if…_

"Hinata? What are you doing back here?"

"Eep!"

Having been startled out of her train of thoughts, she found Naruto standing behind her, a puzzled look on his face. "Eto…I…I m-mean…I-I w-wanted…" she stuttered, unable to get words to come out. Naruto suddenly scared her again by bringing his fist down into his open palm as if he had just realized something.

"I've got it! You can help me out! That byakugan of yours can see through things, right?"

There was a short pause, then she nodded, her mind busy confirming to itself that he had just called her helpful.

"Good. Then you can help make my secret hideout! Here!" He shoved a scroll into her hands before she could protest. "You'll need to learn the Wall of Earth jutsu, but I'm sure you'll get it easy. I'll try to help you while I wait for my chakra to return from this morning."

* * *

The only sounds were those of the birds chirping and the constant sound of the nearby waterfall as Hinata found and read through the jutsu, while Naruto seemed to be searching through his other scrolls for something. After a few minutes, Hinata began slowly performing hand seals, causing Naruto to look up momentarily from his search. As she stopped, Naruto's eyes went wide as a five-foot wall rose out of the ground in front of her. However, it immediately began to crumble and fall apart, resulting in a large pile of loosely packed dirt.

"How did you do that?!" Naruto screamed in awe.

"I…I umm…just…" Hinata was now pressing her fingers together nervously as she often did, with her gaze directed downward, "…performed…the jutsu…but it didn't work right."

"hmm…try using more chakra maybe? It looks like the dirt wasn't compacted enough." _Why couldn't I make a wall like that?!_

"H-Hai…" Hinata began the hand seals again, this time shoving as much chakra into the jutsu as she could. Another wall just like the previous one rose out of the ground, but this one didn't show any signs of crumbling.

"Awesome! You did it!" exclaimed Naruto, jumping to his feet and approaching the wall. Feeling it, it seemed pretty sturdy. Deciding to test it, he raised his fist, and punched it as hard as he could. There was a silence, then…

"Itai! My hand!" He quickly pulled back his injured hand and cradled it, the pain fading not too long after. On the wall were now small indentations made by his knuckles. "Naruto-kun! Are you okay?" Hinata asked as she rushed over to him. "Gomen, I sh-shouldn't have m-made it so h-hard…" The girl looked as if she were about to cry.

"It's not your fault, you did great with the jutsu! I was the one who decided to punch a wall." He smiled reassuringly, putting her at ease. "Now let's see how far down I can make one."

"Down?" she questioned. Now tired out from the jutsu, she sat down with her back leaning against a tree to watch.

"Yeah, just wait and see." Naruto found a good place just outside the clearing and performed the hand seals. Hinata stared as the ground began to cave and cylindrical tunnel formed leading straight down into the ground. She couldn't see them from where she was sitting, but there were notches in the tunnel's wall, making it easy to climb up and down.

Naruto then staggered over to Hinata and took a seat right beside her, causing her entire face to turn a deep crimson, quickly looking away from him to hide it.

"Ano…w-what did you say you n-needed help with?" Hinata asked quietly, having accepted learning the jutsu without question.

"Oh, right. I haven't explained yet. I'm gonna make my own secret hideout to practice jutsu and work on various things. Maybe even create my own jutsus. This way nobody will bother me, and I won't accidentally destroy part of the town." He paused to see that she was listening intently. "Besides, this place is much nicer."

For the first time, Hinata looked around at their surroundings. She hadn't realized she was in a place this nice! Rays of bright sunlight shone down, causing the stream across the clearing to sparkle elegantly. The ground was covered in soft green grass, with the occasional large shadow moving slowly across it, caused by the clouds drifting by in the gentle breeze.

"Uhh…Hinata?" Naruto's voice drew her focus away from the beautiful surroundings.

"H-hai?...Eep!"

Hinata had absent-mindedly rested her head on Naruto's shoulder, and had just jumped several feet away, blushing wildly.

_That…felt kinda good… _Naruto thought, not noticing Hinata panicking several feet away. _Arrgh! Why did I have to say something?! Huh? _"Hinata…you okay?"

Hinata now lay passed out comically on the ground, her mind unable to take all the stress, yet somehow she managed to respond. "H-hai, I'm f-fine…j-just…resting…"

* * *

Naruto continued searching through his scrolls while he waited for Hinata to recover. _The jutsu must have been too much for her… _For a moment he gazed at the wall she had made; and on only her second try, no less. From the week he spent doing chores—err...missions—with her and Shikamaru, she didn't really seem like she was capable of something like that. She always acted so shy, stuttering when she talked, and fainting surprisingly easily. Maybe there was more to her than all that. Now he could faintly see a strength lying dormant within her, waiting for her to discover it.

Hearing a faint sound the blond turned to his teammate. "Ah, you're awake." His voice startled her before she remembered where she was.

"I was thinking. Since you're gonna help build it, you can use the secret base too. It'll be our secret; just the two of us. We'll promise not to tell anyone else, okay?"

"H-Hai!" Hinata answered with a hint of excitement, Naruto's words still swimming around in her head. _Just between us. Our secret…just me and Naruto-kun…_

"Here, you can borrow these. I've got something back home I need to take care of." Naruto tossed her two random scrolls full of high-rank jutsu.

"W-what are these f-for?"

"I'm sure you'll find something in those worth learning. It's got a lot of awesome jutsu. Just make sure nobody else finds out about those scrolls. Bye! See ya tomorrow!" He then jumped up into a tree and took off towards town.

Naruto felt a bit odd as he leapt through Konoha. He was unusually happy; not just the momentary happiness from something turning out well for him. He didn't realize it, but Hinata was the first real friend he had. He had occasionally hung out with Kiba, Shikamaru, and Chouji in the academy, but at the end of the school day, he was alone again.

Naruto almost tripped with the sudden weight increase as he neared his apartment. His mind wasn't very focused recently. Hopefully he'd be able to concentrate on his current research.

* * *

**"Sorry kit, but there is no jutsu capable of granting you more chakra. I believe you humans must use almost all of your chakra, so that your body will increase its chakra reserves so that it will be harder to run out in the future. But then of course, you could always use mine…"**

"I already told you, I want my own strength! Now do you know anything that can help me or not?!"

**"Fine, fine.**** There is a similar effect to what you're asking that can be achieved with a seal. It's really quite interesting. It is possible to place a seal on yourself that constantly absorbs a certain percent of your chakra. The principle is the same as the seals that can hold items, to be released whenever the user desires. I suppose I could teach you its basic form, but I'll leave it to you to improve it on your own."**_**This kid, he may be able to evolve the seal along a different path than normal. I'll see what he can come up with.**_

"Great! Then hurry up and show me!" Naruto was nearly jumping up and down in anticipation, though it didn't matter, as he was only speaking to Kyuubi mentally, and there was nobody else in his apartment to see him.

**"Before we start, I should also remind you, that if you humans **_**do not**_** use up most of your chakra on occasion, your chakra reserves will shrink to get rid of the excess space. This seal should not be used in place of stamina training."**

"Of course." Naruto replied with a grin. "I intend to train hard in addition to this. I don't intend to use it for everything."

**"The seal also has some minor details you should know about. I'll tell you a few and leave the rest for you to discover."**

* * *

Hinata set the two scrolls Naruto had given her on the ground, at the base of the wall from earlier. As much as she wanted to look through them, she had other things to work on first. After forming a hand seal, three shadow clones appeared before her. She had been working on the jutsu whenever she had free time, which wasn't often. She was able to make up to ten now, but she wouldn't have enough chakra left for training if she did. As two of the kage bunshin stepped off to the side, the remaining clone and the original took the stance for Jyuken.

This was her first time sparring with shadow clones. She had only gotten the idea last night, and it was turning out to be surprisingly effective. Not only was she fighting someone of equal strength, but she didn't have to worry about killing them, as she often did.

Parrying the clones attack, she hit the clone in the chest with a Jyuken strike, causing it to vanish. One of the clones to the side then stepped in to take its place.

Hinata smiled at her accomplishment. Now if she could beat the other two without getting hit as well, it would be proof that she had improved since the shadow clones were created. She wasn't really doing this to learn Jyuken, she was doing it to learn to fight against it.

* * *

Naruto performed a series of hand seals, focusing on the piece of paper in front of him, causing the designs that covered the paper to take on a dim bluish glow. Pressing the paper against his desk, the symbol began to fade as it was transferred to the desk's surface. On the desk was now the same elegant design: A round intricate design at the center with a few curved lines snaking out from it in different directions. As soon as it appeared on the desk, it began to slowly fade until it had disappeared only moments later.

"Yatta! It worked!" The blond ninja exclaimed, as he began to redraw the seal onto a new piece of paper. Following the same procedure, he then removed his headband and placed the paper against his forehead. He felt a slightly uncomfortable warm feeling as the seal transferred to his skin. Checking the mirror, the curved lines seemed to retract into the center of the seal as the center itself seemed to become more defined. Naruto put his headband back on as he felt his chakra begin to leak slowly into the seal.

* * *

"Finally! A real mission!"

"Keep it down, Naruto." Asuma said, knocking the boy on the back of the head. "People are trying to work in this building." _Nobody likes being woken up, even if they're supposed to be working._

"Ahem, yes." The hokage regained their attention. "As I said, this is a C-rank mission. You'll be travelling to a border town near river country to deliver this package." He motioned to a small box sitting in front of him. "Once you arrive, deliver it to the village head. He should be waiting for you."

With that, the three genin left to prepare for the mission. Asuma had decided they would meet at the gate in one hour, so they had plenty of time to pack.

* * *

Sasuke was finding his day off to be much less enjoyable than he had hoped it would. He had made his way to his team's training ground, only to be spotted by a certain pink-haired annoyance on the way there. He was now walking through the training ground, said annoyance tagging along beside him, rambling about something that Sasuke was using all his effort to tune out. _Kami, Please send this annoying girl back to the depths of Hell._

Suddenly the ground seemed to open up next to him as Sakura fell into the darkness. "Uhh…Th-thanks." Sasuke waved slightly at the sky while slowly backing up, before turning and running away back towards Konoha.

"Ahhh! Sasuke-kun?! Help me out of here! Sasuke-kun?! Are you there? Sasuke!" Sakura called from the bottom of a fifteen-foot-deep hole. It was just narrow enough for a human to fit, and the walls were unnaturally smooth, eliminating any chance of her climbing out. "Sasuke?!..."

* * *

Naruto held the package under his arm as he walked leisurely down the path, Hinata next to him and Shikamaru and Asuma trailing behind them. They had been walking for a long time now, and the sun was starting to set.

"So, Hinata, find any good jutsu in those scrolls?" Naruto asked, quiet enough for the other two not to hear him.

"A-Actually," she replied, "I haven't l-looked yet."

"That's okay. I've only really skimmed through them myself. Hey, when we get back…"

"Hey, you two." Asuma's gruff voice came from behind them. "It's getting late, so we'll set up camp here. We're not in any hurry." Shikamaru was already sitting on the ground with his backpack next to him.

"Okay, I'll go ahead and start setting up the tent. Hinata, go find some water. Naruto, wake Shikamaru up and tell him to catch us some food, then gather us some firewood. Nothing's better on a mission than a calm clear sky and a freshly cooked meal."

Shikamaru was awake and already sitting back up, but that didn't stop Naruto from repeating their sensei's words as if the boy hadn't heard them.

* * *

It wasn't much later before a group of Naruto's returned with several arm-fulls of firewood, finding the tent already set up and a hungry Asuma setting on a log near the would-be fire.

"You can just drop that anywhere. It seems Hinata forgot to take the canteens; she's probably on her way back to get them right now. Do me a favor, would ya? Take these and go find her." He tossed four canteens to the Narutos, who quickly dropped the firewood to catch them. The group then passed the canteens to the original and vanished, leaving Naruto to head off in the direction Hyuuga Hinata had gone.

* * *

"Watch out!" Asuma yelled, jumping in front of the three genin and deflecting several kunai and shuriken. They were on the second day of their mission, and were only half an hour from their destination. In the middle of the road appeared a large hooded man wearing generic clothes, with a cloth hanging over the lower half of his face.

In each of the man's hands was a strange bladed weapon, each of which resembles a disfigured sword. In the left, the blade came to a sharp point a few inches from the hilt, then curved back along his outer forearm. The right one came to an identical point, but instead, spiraled backwards around his forearm, the blade facing outward. On his head he wore a Suna headband, with a horizontal slash through the symbol.

"A sand village missing-nin…" Asuma stated, distaste apparent in his voice. The nin laughed as the three genin took defensive stances.

"You brats think you can take me? Just hand over the package and I might let you live. We'll make a small fortune from selling that thing." The nin easily blocked the Asuma's chakra knife with the blade on his left arm.

Asuma mirrored his movements blocking the nin's drill-like blade that had been intended to impale his chest. The two stood there in a deadlock for a moment, a heavy tension surrounding the group.

Suddenly the nin spun his right weapon, allowing it to bypass Asuma's knife while still keeping it occupied. Asuma barely managed to dodge to his right, jumping out of reach of the blade, at the same time sending a blade of wind chakra out of his right knife. The chakra sliced through the nin's blade as well as his arm, leaving him without a left hand. Realizing the fight was over, the nin took off into the trees.

"C'mon, we should hurry to town in case there are others after this package. Huh?" The three genin we're stood frozen from shock. "Oh, right. This is the first time our team has been attacked, isn't it? Well, you'll all get used to it. If you ask me it's better than pulling weeds or chasing cats any day."

Naruto suddenly relaxed, rubbing the back of his head sheepishly. "Heh…maybe I was overacting;" Three 'poofs' and then genin-bunshin vanished, the real genin emerging from behind nearby trees. "Just making sure he's gone." He motioned to Hinata, who was deactivating her Byakugan.

"Well, I have to say I'm impressed." Asuma commented, lighting himself another cigarette. "Now let's get going, in case there are others after this package."

* * *

It was late afternoon when the team reached their destination. Waiting at the gate was the head of the village, who welcomed them heartily. "Ah! That must be the package from Konoha." The man took the package from Naruto and looked inside. "Yes, this is definitely it…"

The man tucked the package under his arm and quickly performed several hand signs. Asuma moved to stop him, but didn't make it in time as the man shunshin'ed away.

"Damn!"

* * *

_End of chapter 3_

Finally finished it! Please leave a **review**! I'd really appreciate it. I tried to give the sand missing-nin a 'generic villain number one' feel, he's only high-chunnin. By the way, in my profile is a link to a picture of his weapons as well as Naruto's chakra seal. They're drawn by me in paint, so they're not very fancy. Well, see ya next chapter!

Jutsu Notes:

Wall of Earth

Rank: A

Similar to earth element manipulation, but much less efficient. User sends their chakra into the earth, and forms it into a wall, although any shape can be created with enough skill. Moving the earth requires chakra control, while compacting it needs a large amount of chakra. Those with earth element chakra can learn to use this jutsu without the need for hand signs, and with the cost of much less chakra. It is primarily a defensive jutsu, though there have stories of clever ninja occaisionally using it offensively.

Chakra Seal

Rank: C

A seal similar to the ones that hold objects. When applied, it begins to slowly absorb chakra from the bearer. The chakra is stored within the seal itself, which has a set capacity. Once this capacity has been reached, it will continue to amass chakra, causing pain and eventually injury to the bearer. The chakra can be returned to the bearer with the use of the correct hand signs, at which time the seal will vanish, and a new one may be applied to replace it. The seal should be placed on the bearer's forehead. Anywhere else will result in more chakra being drained, yet hardly any of it will end up stored in the seal. There are more advanced versions of this seal, which are more complex and often hold more chakra, though are also more dangerous. If placed on an inanimate object, the seal will simply fade away without chakra to maintain it.

Kage Bunshin no jutsu

Rank: A

Creates clones of the user, comprised of a chakra shell containing circulating chakra that works to simulate thought and record memories. This data is returned to the user upon the clones' dispelling, which can be done by the user, the clones, or any significant hit taken by the clones. Because the clones have substance and chakra, they also possess the capability of using jutsu, although their chakra will not replenish and they will disappear if it runs too low. The clones will be exact copies of the user at the time they are created, and will have all non-living possessions the user had with them at the time. Cloned possessions will disappear when the clone does, though the opposite is not true.


End file.
